Comments on: Nats can’t climb out of early holehttp://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/
News, analysis and commentary from someone who has covered the Washington Nationals since Day 1Tue, 31 Mar 2015 22:02:32 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.com/By: Anonymoushttp://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53230
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 16:12:44 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53230The Nats need to find a different charity the CMW. May I suggest ST Judes.
]]>By: Feel Woodhttp://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53225
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:44:13 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53225And another thing, SteveM. The Cabrera signing had Bowden's M.O. written all over it. Why is it that Bowden all of a sudden needs Acta to prod him into this reclamation project when he needed no help at all to get into all the others like Dmitri Young, Elijah Dukes, Paul LoDuca, Johnny Estrada, yadda yadda yadda? Perhaps you could blame Kasten for not talking Bowden out of signing Cabrera, but there's no way you can say Acta is the one who talked him into it.
]]>By: Anonymoushttp://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53224
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:43:36 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53224We all know Jim Bowden did little scouting. It was choosing Cincy Reds and low risk guys with big upside at league min. Daniel Cabrera was neither at $2.6 million just like Wang. What is his upside for the Washington Nationals? What is his $4 million incentive package consist of?
]]>By: Davehttp://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53223
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:24:35 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53223Reading this thread reminded me about the story on SI about the controversial new stem-cell treatment that Colon received. Wonder if it is something LaRoche is considering http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/the_bonus/08/02/nitkowski/index.html?sct=mlb_wr_a1
]]>By: Feel Woodhttp://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53221
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:21:57 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53221Feel Wood, so you think Bowden scouted and found Daniel Cabrera on his own.You say this as if Cabrera was uncovered like a pig finds a truffle. No "scouting and finding" was required for Cabrera. He had been pitching in the major leagues 30 miles up the road for the past five years. And it's doubtful that Acta saw even one of Cabrera's 146 starts as an Oriole, because during those years Acta was a coach or manager in the other league. Acta may have put in a good word for Cabrera if Bowden sounded him out before the signing, but there's no way Acta would have been the one driving the deal as you claim.Hell, even Boswell was saying good things about the Cabrera signing in March 2009.http://voices.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2009/03/boz_on_cabrera.htmlI know for certain that it was on Manny's recommendation.Let's agree to disagree.I know for certain you're blowing smoke. Let's agree to disagree.
]]>By: Mark'dhttp://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53219
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:07:13 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53219With all the Rizzo discussion on Werth, 5 years at $20 million a year with team options would have made more sense I believe. That would have saved the team $26 million. He will be on the bench I fear in a few years. Unfortunately in hindsight, Werth is playing like an $800,000 player.
]]>By: Steve M.http://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53218
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:53:30 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53218Bowdenball, I think it is the weighting of the decisions.1. No issue with Nyjer brought to Spring Training if it was going to be a fair tryout. Problem was Rizzo knew that Nyjer would only thrive in a platoon and only had LH Bernadina and LH Ankiel as alternatives then the curious rumor that Ankiel WAS the CF the minute Rizzo signed him.2. The Nats needed a big splash but 7 years to carry Werth and that salary will be a drain on the system. A 5 to 6 year deal may not have done it but there were other big name Free Agents to make the splash with. All in all, I like Werth just not for 7 years.3. Good point. Holding firm on Dunn turned out to be good. Lucky Chisox took him.4. LaRoche. Right guy, missed diagnosis. I think he was the best pick for the Nats. It was the injury that wasn't found and he should have been shut down sooner. It was really the in-season decisions that hurt the most. Decisions constructing the 25 man roster and the moving parts. Even with Zim injured, this team was moving in the right direction. The weaknesses were Stairs, Broderick, Gaudin, Slaten, and Burnett and Rizzo took too long in each situation. These issues were so obvious, not sure many GMs wouldn't see them.
]]>By: Bowdenballhttp://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53216
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:32:13 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53216Great and thoughtful breakdown, Steve M. I think there's a couple things I disagree with about Rizzo in 2011, though.- I don't see a problem with giving Nyjer a try. There wasn't a better two-way option at CF available outside the organization. There was nothing lost by giving him a chance to mature and live up to his potential. As soon as it became clear he wouldn't, he was traded. No damage done to the organization there.- The Werth signing was a drain on resources but was necessary. It's not a myth that clubs like the Nats have to go above market to sign premium free agents- we saw guys like Teixiera, De La Rosa and Grienke reject us even when we offered the most money (or in Greinke's case, the best package offer). It'll hurt in 2016, but hopefully by then we'll have some playoff appearances and momentum, making the damage easier to bear.- In any event, you can't fault him for one free agent decision without crediting him for another: not signing Dunn despite a very vocal push from the fans. He was absolutely right about that one. Dunn is horrible now and the comp picks we got for them look like great pieces added to our system assuming we sign them.-LaRoche has been a disaster, but to some degree so have all of the 1B free agents. Of that awful group, LaRoche is comparatively cheap and the most likely to bounce back in 2012 You can hold him responsible for not knowing Morse could play a decent 1B, but beyond that it's hard to hold him accountable for his decisionmaking regarding 1B.- I don't think it's too early to evaluate the Hairston and Marquis deals. They're free agents and we got value for them, and they're not good enough that we would have gotten comp picks if we lost them in free agency at the end of the season. That is value added almost beyond question. No downside to those moves. it helps that we actually got some prospects that a few people are high on.- Obviously it's way too early to judge our 2011 draft, but most experts that I trust had nothing but positive things to say about it.So maybe not 3 to 1 good decisions to bad ones, but certainly a lot more good ones than bad in my opinion.
]]>By: Steve M.http://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53215
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:25:28 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53215Feel Wood, so you think Bowden scouted and found Daniel Cabrera on his own. OK, ask Jim and ask Manny. Obviously JimBo had to agree to it. I know for certain that it was on Manny's recommendation.Let's agree to disagree.
]]>By: Steve M.http://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53214
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:18:13 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53214Bowdenball-Rizzo's decisions were mostly good in 2010 while Kasten was his boss. Now that Rizzo is on his own, I think he has made some poor on the field decisions including trades that started last winter, Free Agent signings, changing managers, and final roster picks.The one decision which was good was the emphasis and philosophy of the athletic and defensive team.His off-season proclamation of #1 pitcher was the Top Priority shouldn't have been told to the media as he went in search of dead ends and the Greinke trade proposal that made him look desperate.Rizzo went into Spring Training with Nyjer as his centerfielder which wasn't all bad but had no right-handed platoon there to counterbalance Nyjer's horrific numbers in lefty/lefty encounters. Then Rizzo's hand-picked top Free Agent Jayson Werth became combative with Nyjer possibly causing the Nyjer for Cutter Dykstra last minute trade.Alberto Gonzalez was traded for Erik Davis who is a AA pitcher in Harrisburg with a 4.79 ERA and 1.606 WHIP and big regression from the 2.75 ERA and 1.042 WHIP he had last year in San Antonio AA. Did San Diego know something? As it turned out, Alberto Gonzalez has struggled at the plate in San Diego.We can debate Josh Willingham for HenRod and Corey Brown all day long. Josh Willingham should have been traded. It just seems Rizzo didn't get top trade value for Willingham. Again, very subjective and we will never know.Free Agent signings was overpaying Jayson Werth over too many years (7 for $126 million). This will be a big drain in years to come on the Nats payroll.Free Agent Chien-Ming Wang signed to a 1 year deal for $1 million plus $4 million in incentives with NO team option for 2012.Free Agent signing of Adam LaRoche is a disaster when it was revealed that he had a labrum tear. LaRoche would finish the season with a .172 batting average and a stellar glove at 1st. That was $7 million wasted on the team payroll.Free Agent Matt Stairs unfortunately defined Rizzo's year of Free Agent signings as he was on a 1 year deal and it took 4 months of this slash line to cut the $900,000 pinch hitter extraodinaire with this slash line: .154/.257/.169 NO HOME RUNS. 1 big hit. Less RBIs than 4 of the starting pitchers. That's right 2 RBIs in 65 at-bats. When Stairs did get on base, he was generally pinch-run for.Free Agent Chad Gaudin was released after a stint on the DL. Chad had the team worst 2.40 WHIP and 6.48 ERATom Gorzelanny was traded for A.J. Morris, Graham Hicks, and Michael Burgess. Time will tell on this trade but I would say it was a decent Rizzo trade.Trade deadline deals were the following: Jonny Gomes for for Bill Rhinehart and Chris Manno is too early to tell as is Jerry Hairston for Erik Komatsu and Jason Marquis for Zach Walters. Other 2011 Free Agent signings were Laynce Nix, Rick Ankiel, Jerry Hairston, Alex Cora. Generally a decent core that have played well at times.Rule 5 pick Brian Broderick stayed on the roster for almost 2 months before he was DFA'd on May 23rd. He took up a valuable roster spot and not sure what Rizzo scouted as the Cardinals put him back in the Minors. It was often discussed with Broderick, Stairs and Slaten that Riggleman was managing with 22 players instead of 25.Speaking of Slaten, his 2.108 WHIP and propensity for taking inherited runners and letting them score as LOOGY specialist while staying on the roster for 3 months before being put on the DL.Rizzo in the off-season signed Sean Burnett to a 2 year deal. Burnett is the leader of allowing inherited 17 runners to score of the 36 all going on other pitchers ERAs while carrying his own ERA of 4.83Add to this the Rigglman/McLaren to Davey Johnson managerial debacle and you have a GM tenure that doesn't look to good so is that 3-1 favorable for Rizzo or unfavorable?
]]>By: Feel Woodhttp://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53213
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:17:05 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53213He was part of the final straw on Manny Acta as he was the one who knew Cabrera and recommended him for the rotation. The Nationals wasted $2.6 million on him.Revisionist history. Cabrera was a Jim Bowden project, plain and simple. Bowden signed him in Dec 2008 to a major league deal, with no options left. That meant he was going to be in the rotation unless they decided to release him before the season even started. Acta had nothing to do with that, so trying to pin any blame on Acta for Daniel Cabrera is flat out wrong. What was it that Donald Rumsfeld said about going to war with the army you have, not the army you wish you had? Acta and Rizzo were forced to assemble a rotation for 2009 from the pitchers they had, not the pitchers they wished they had.
]]>By: NatsJack in Floridahttp://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53212
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 13:32:40 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53212As someone who has seen Wang pitch in Viera last year when he couldn't even get on a mound till late July 2010, to someone who could only hit 86 on a gun in October 2010, who could barely break 88 on a regular basis as recently as May 2011, I have to say that he's shown remarkable improvement.Let's not judge too harshly at this time. It's a shame that he has to perform like an early Spring Training arm at the ML level, but it's the only way the team can get any idea about what to do next.I agree that limiting him to 3 or 4 innings for 3 or 4 starts might be a better approach but they really are in a tough spot when it comes to determining what to do next.
]]>By: NatsLadyhttp://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53211
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 13:20:56 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53211I detest Law, not for his "snarkiness" but because he doesn't do his research in some easy situations and still mouths off at length. However, I do agree with him on Rizzo. I also think Rizzo is doing a very good job, and people who can't see how much improved this team is are, I dunno, blind?I'm keeping an open mind on Wang. If you trust Rizzo as a scout, then you have to feel he sees something there. It may not work out, but Wang's not keeping the Nats out of the playoffs even if he loses every game from now until the end of September. When you are a building team and you don't have a great farm system (yet), you have to look in a lot of places for building blocks. With that, I'm hitting the road… Looking forward to watching the Nats go for the Cubbies in Wrigley Field, I've never seen that ivy in person.
]]>By: Mark'dhttp://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53210
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 13:05:11 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53210SteveM, grab some coffee. Ladson said Detwiler was in the Bourn deal not on the Span deal if that is what you are implying. Agree there is no excess in the 'pen.Also got an ugly taste in my mouth from Feel Wood on Daniel Cabrera.Other comparisons on Stairs is also ugly as he just RETIRED. Surprise surprise, nobody wanted Stairs after he was made available at league minimum.
]]>By: Bowdenballhttp://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53209
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:57:50 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53209Cabrera and Wang are more like opposite ends of a poop spectrum. Cabrera had a lively arm but couldn't find the strike zone. Wang doesn't just find the strike zone, he can also find the barrel of the bat with impressive regularity.NatsLady: Law is brutally honest, nothing more, nothing less. OK, maybe also a little snarky, but he's as good as they come when it comes to evaluating baseball talent and sharing it with the fans. Sure, occasionally he's wrong, which is inevitable in his business. For example he thought Espinosa's offseason hamate surgery would temporarily sap his power. Oops! But he's right a lot more than anyone else in the media. People who dislike him are generally just people who dislike the reality facing their favorite team.He's right about Rizzo- he's been doing a fantastic job. Since he took over his good decisions outnumber the bads ones at least 3 to 1.He's also right about Wang- he's awful right now. It's a nice story but there's absolutely nothing there. Maybe he'll find something, but it seems very unlikely.
]]>By: NatStathttp://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53208
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:56:42 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53208Wang still needs to be working it out at 'Cuse; he's not ready for prime time, yet!If Davey doesn't trust Wang's pitch selection, he should do what Felipe Alou did with some of his pitchers, including Pedro Martinez, call the pitches from the dugout.
]]>By: Steve M.http://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53207
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:53:00 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53207NatsLady said… This quote (paraphrased) from Keith Law: Rizzo did a smart thing. He's not a buyer, but he let it be known he would be interested in a centerfielder (Bourn, Span, Rasmus, et al.) because he felt he had some excess in his bullpen. August 4, 2011 8:08 AM If Keith Law said that, you can throw it out the window as another talking head not knowing the situation. Clearly this wasn't the case "he felt he had some excess in his bullpen".What was more the case was Rizzo felt he would trade a reliever for a centerfielder and the Twins said they want a reliever + more parts or as Ladson claims, they wanted Detwiler and who knows what else. Every other journalist claimed it was Storen at the center of the trade and MASN even had a countdown clock going for Storen leading up to the trade deadline so who knows, but trust me, there is no excess in this 2011 Nats bullpen.
]]>By: Steve M.http://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53206
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:45:54 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53206Feel Wood said… Here's a handy Chinese-to-Spanish-to-English translation dictionary for those bilingual mound conferences:CHINESE Chien-Ming WangSPANISH Daniel CabreraENGLISH Hey, this is a family blog! August 4, 2011 8:13 AM Let's hope it never gets as bad as the DCab. He made 8 starts with a 0-5 record before being moved to the bullpen. In all 9 games he appeared, they were Nats losses. He was part of the final straw on Manny Acta as he was the one who knew Cabrera and recommended him for the rotation. The Nationals wasted $2.6 million on him.Remember the Nats started 2009 with a 1-10 record and Mock and Olsen weren't too good themselves. Jordan Zimmermann and Shairon Martis were the star pitchers then.Hard to believe it wasn't that long ago and was the worst season in Nats history with Manny Acta carrying a 26-61 record before being fired.
]]>By: Feel Woodhttp://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53205
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:13:39 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53205Here's a handy Chinese-to-Spanish-to-English translation dictionary for those bilingual mound conferences:CHINESE Chien-Ming WangSPANISH Daniel CabreraENGLISH Hey, this is a family blog!
]]>By: NatsLadyhttp://natsinsider.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole/comment-page-1/#comment-53204
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:08:31 +0000http://natsinsider.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/nats-cant-climb-out-of-early-hole#comment-53204This quote (paraphrased) from Keith Law: Rizzo did a smart thing. He's not a buyer, but he let it be known he would be interested in a centerfielder (Bourn, Span, Rasmus, et al.) because he felt he had some excess in his bullpen. Didn't work out, but it was smart.Also feels that the Nationals are a "well-run" team (this meant Davey, because at the time he was comparing the Nats to the Rockies.)Just putting this out there for all you Keith Law lovers. Also he was VERY funny yesterday on Baseball Today re: Tony LaRusso of the Cards and the beanball contest they had with the Brewers. (Didn't hear him on Wang, so that must have been a different show.)
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